Rep. Jeff Landry's 'present' vote can be seen as jab at Rep. Charles Boustany

What is likely to be a contentious race between incumbent Reps. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette and Jeff Landry,
R-New Iberia, emerged publicly again last week. The issue was a House
vote to disapprove an increase in the federal debt, a vote more symbolic
than real because the Democratic Senate won't go along.

Landry,
who opposed the original debt extension deal last year, voted "present,"
accusing many fellow Republicans, presumably including Boustany, of
covering their behinds for their initial votes to extend the debt limit,
which he opposed. Landry said those Republicans are "more concerned
about a press release than the next generation."

Boustany said
rejection of last year's year's debt limit extension, as Landry urged,
would have threatened to derail the U.S. economy along with "vital
programs for seniors." And he said that last week's vote was important,
not the gimmick described by Landry, because it sent a message to
President Barack Obama that Republicans are serious about reducing the federal deficit.